UPCOMING SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
Longwood at Eastern Kentucky - 6
p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26
Murray State
at Southern Illinois - 7:05 p.m.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28
Eastern Illinois at Jacksonville State* - 2 p.m.
(OVCSports.TV)
Tennessee Tech at Eastern Kentucky* - 3 p.m.
(OVCSports.TV)
Tennessee State at Austin Peay* - 5:15 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
Southeast Missouri at UT Martin* - 6 p.m. (OVCSports.tV)
MONDAY, JANUARY 30
Tennessee Tech at Morehead State* - 5 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
Austin Peay at Southeast Missouri* - 7 p.m.
(OVCSports.TV)
Eastern Illinois at Murray State* - 7 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
Tennessee State at UT Martin* - 7 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
SIUE at Jacksonville State* - 7:45 p.m. (OVCSports.TV)
* - OVC Contest
ALL TIMES CENTRAL
adidas® OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK – Jan. 24
PLAYER
Jasmin Shuler, G • Jr., 5'8 • Clarksville,
Tenn. • Tennessee State
Shuler shot
over 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc last week. She scored a
career-high 38 points to help Tennessee
State defeat Morehead State
in overtime. She also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals versus the
Eagles. Shuler followed that up with 22 points behind 9-of-17 shooting at Eastern Illinois.
Others Nominated: Jordyne Crunk, Eastern Illinois;
Danielle Vaughn, Jacksonville State; Ashar Harris, Morehead State; Erica
Burgess, Murray State; Brittany Harriel, Southeast Missouri; Raven Berry, SIUE;
Tacarra Hayes, Tennessee Tech; Jasmine Newsome, UT Martin
NEWCOMER
Jade Barber, C • Jr., 6'2 • Louisville,
Ky. • Eastern Kentucky
Barber led Eastern Kentucky with a career-best 24 points and a
game-high 10 rebounds against UT Martin. It was her fifth double-double of the
season. She went 10-for-12 from the field and also had one blocked shot.
Others Nominated: Kyra Watson, Murray
State; Jala Harris, Tennessee
Tech
FRESHMAN
Katie Hempen, G • Fr., 5'8 • Highland, Ill.
• SIUE
Hempen was
second on the team in scoring for the week with 13.5 points per game. She paced
the squad with 17 points in the come-from-behind win over Austin Peay. Hempen
was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the line over the two games.
Others Nominated: Katlyn Payne,
Eastern Illinois;
Carla Booth, Eastern Kentucky; Briana Morrow, Jacksonville State
TEAM SNAPSHOTS
AUSTIN PEAY LADY GOVS (2-6, 5-16): Austin Peay dropped a pair of road games last week, falling
to Eastern Illinois (80-46) and SIUE (61-72).
Senior Whitney Hanley led the team with 18.0 points per game. She scored 11
versus Eastern Illinois and followed that up
with 25 at SIUE. Hanley also brought down seven boards against the Cougars. She
has reach double-figures in points in nine of her last 10 games. Senior Jasmine
Rayner added 9.0 points each time out including 13 versus the Panthers. Austin
Peay will host Tennessee State on Saturday before traveling to Southeast Missouri on Monday.
EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHERS (6-0,
15-4): Eastern
Illinois picked up wins over Austin Peay (80-46) and Tennessee State
(88-73) to remain undefeated at home and OVC play this season. EIU is 6-0 in
conference play which marks the best league start in program history. The
Panthers scored a season-high 47 first-half points in the game with TSU. Six
players also scored in double-figures versus with three of them posting
double-doubles versus Tennessee
State. Senior Chantelle
Pressley posted back-to-back double-doubles against Austin Peay and Tennessee State, averaging 11.5 points and 10.0
rebounds. Junior Ta'Kenya Nixon dished out a career-high 12 assists against TSU
to go along with 16 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Jordyne Crunk led the
team in scoring in both games, averaging 15.0 points last week. The Panthers
out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 17.5 rebounds in their two wins
last week while out-scoring them by 24.5 point per game. Eastern Illinois will
travel to Jacksonville State on Saturday and Murray State
on Monday.
EASTERN KENTUCKY LADY COLONELS (5-3,
9-9): Eastern Kentucky fell to UT Martin, 84-61, at home last
week. Junior Jade Barber scored a career-best 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting
and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. It was her fifth double-double of the
season Junior Alex Jones finished with seven boards and moved into seventh
place on EKU's all-time career rebounds list. Freshman Carla Booth recorded
eight points, four rebounds and three assists versus the Skyhawks. Eastern Kentucky will host non-conference foe Longwood on
Wednesday before welcoming Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
JACKSONVILLE STATE GAMECOCKS (1-7,
4-17): Jacksonville
State dropped a 65-59 road contest to Tennessee Tech. Senior Destiny Lane led
the team with 16 points while junior Danielle Vaughn recorded her eighth
double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Gamecocks held
the rebounding edge, 50-28, over Tech and now has out-rebounded the opposition
in seven of the eight OVC matches. Jacksonville
State opens a three-game homestand on
Saturday when it hosts Eastern Illinois and
SIUE on Monday.
MOREHEAD STATE EAGLES (4-3, 7-12): Morehead State
dropped an overtime contest at Tennessee Tech (86-80) and fell to UT Martin
(81-61) at home. Senior Courtney Lumpkin recorded 20.5 points per game last
week and moved into second place in career assists at Morehead State
with 457. Junior Ashar Harris brought down 34 rebounds over the two games to
move into first in the NCAA with 12.7 boards per outing. She also averaged 19.0
points and shot 71 percent from the field. Senior Linda Dixon scored a
career-high 27 points at Tennessee
State and set a
career-high with six blocked shots versus UT Martin. Freshman Almesha Jones
recorded her first career double-digit game with 11 points against the
Skyhawks. Morehead
State will host Tennessee
Tech on Monday.
MURRAY STATE RACERS (4-3, 8-11): Murray
State defeated SIUE
(67-59) and Longwood (86-77) last week. The Racers have now won their last four
games. Murray State is just three wins away from
recording their 500th in history. Sophomore Erica Burgess scored a then
career-high 24 points versus SIUE and followed that up with 31 against
Longwood. Junior Mariah Robinson recorded 21 points at SIUE to mark the first
time two Murray State players scored 20-plus points in
the same game since March 2, 2010. Robinson needs just 36 points to reach 1,000
for her career. Junior Kyra Watson tallied her first career double-double and
just Murray State's second of the season with 14
points and 12 rebounds against Longwood. The Racers will travel to Southern
Illinois on Thursday and host Eastern Illinois
on Monday.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI REDHAWKS (1-6,
4-16): Southeast Missouri fell at Tennessee Tech, 60-57, in
overtime. The Redhawks led by as many as 11 points late in the first half and
held a four-point lead with less than four minutes to play before just missing
a potential game-winning shot at the end of regulation. Southeast
Missouri has lost its last four games and is winless in 12
straight road contests. Junior Brittany Harriel led the team with 12 points,
her sixth double-figure scoring effort in the last eight games. Junior Courtney
Shiffer recorded double-figures for the second straight game with 10 points. Southeast Missouri will travel to UT Martin on Saturday
before hosting Austin Peay on Monday.
SIUE COUGARS (5-3, 11-8): SIUE fell to Murray State, 67-59,
before defeating Austin Peay, 71-61. Junior Raven Berry averaged a
double-double with 12.0 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. With her 13 rebounds
against APSU, Berry
became the ninth player in school history to record 600 career boards. Berry
along with Michaela Herrod record double-doubles versus the Lady Govs. It was
the first time since last year's game against Austin Peay that the Cougars had
multiple double-doubles. Freshman Katie Hempen scored 13.5 points per game last
week. She led all scores with 17 in the come-from-behind win over Austin Peay.
She went a perfect 7-for-7 from the line to move into second play in the OVC
with a 85.2 free throw percentage this season. SIUE will travel to Jacksonville State on Monday.
TENNESSEE STATE LADY TIGERS (3-5, 7-13): Tennessee
State split a pair of OVC games last
week, defeating Morehead State (86-80) at home in overtime and falling to Eastern Illinois (88-73) on the road. Junior Jasmin
Shuler recorded 30.0 points per game last week. She shot over 50 percent from
the floor over the two games. Shuler scored a career-best 38 points in the win
over Morehead State. She also had five rebounds versus
the Eagles. She followed that up with 22 points behind of 9-of-17 shooting. Tennessee State will travel to Austin Peay on
Saturday and UT Martin on Monday.
TENNESSEE TECH GOLDEN EAGLES (4-3, 8-13): Tennessee Tech went 2-1 last week with wins over Southeast
Missouri (60-57, OT) and Jacksonville
State. The Golden Eagles
fell to non-conference foe Western Kentucky,
71-58, on the road. Senior Tacarra Hayes led the team averaging 13.3 points and
dishing out nine assists over the three games. She recorded a team-best 15
points against Jacksonville
State. Sophomore Jala
Harris finished the week with 28 points and 12 rebounds. She posted 14 points,
five rebounds and four assists versus Western Kentucky.
Tennessee Tech will travel to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday and Morehead State on Monday.
UT MARTIN SKYHAWKS (5-1, 11-8): UT Martin picked up a pair of OVC
road wins last week, defeating Eastern Kentucky (84-61) and Morehead State
(81-61). It marked the first time the Skyhawks have swept both games of the Death Valley trip since 1998-99. The victory at Morehead State was UT Martin's first since the
2006-07 season. Sophomore Jasmine Newsome scored 16 points versus Eastern
Kentucky and followed that up with 29 points against Morehead State.
She also recorded 14 rebounds and nine assists over the two games. Sophomore Heather
Butler also averaged 22.5 points last week. She scored 16 points versus Eastern Kentucky to become the 12th member of UT Martin's
1,000 point club. She reached the 1,000-point plateau in 50 games, scoring
double-figures in each game of that stretch. UT Martin will host Southeast
Missouri on Saturday and Tennessee
State on Monday.